Blog : Care

Young children are more at risk of being hit by oncoming cars when crossing the street than those children who are slightly older.

Young children aren’t developed enough to be able to read and comprehend the noises and sights associated with oncoming traffic, thus putting them at higher risk than their older counterparts. The University of Idaho conducted a study to compare traffic detection skills in both adults and children. Here is what the study discovered:

“These participants were asked to listen on headphones to 24 recordings of a car approaching at 10, 20 and 40 kilometres per hour, from both directions, and pressed a computer key when they detected the vehicle, identified its direction and thought it had arrived at their location. The computer was programmed to calculate distances in relation to key presses.

Adults detected the car significantly earlier than children, though older children heard the car before younger children. Adults detected the vehicle traveling at 10 kilometres per hour at a distance of about 16 meters, compared with 11 meters for younger children and 14 meters for older children. On average, the vehicle was significantly closer to children than adults when it was detected.

The vehicle traveling at 40 kmph, when engine and tire noises are loudest, was detected significantly earlier than at other speeds. But researchers noted faster-moving vehicles would close in on a pedestrian more quickly and have greater potential to cause a fatal injury. Older children were better than younger children at determining when a vehicle had arrived at their location.”

As parents, we must take the time to teach our children what to watch for before turning them loose to handle situations like this on their own. Let’s help prevent them from being another statistic.

When we were children, we had big dreams and our whole lives ahead of us to make them come true. We wanted to climb a mountain, be a fireman, a ballerina or be a movie star. Nothing was in our way and nothing was going to stop us.

And then we became adults. The dreams vanished as life got in the way. Those dreams we had seemed silly and we let them fade into the distance. As parents, it’s important to not let this happen to our children – but how? Here are a few ways to teach them how to keep reaching for the stars:

Teach them that Rome wasn’t built in a day. Neil Armstrong didn’t wake up one morning and decide he was going to walk on the moon that day. Reaching for the stars doesn’t mean making one giant leap – it means taking lots of small steps in the direction of your goal.

You aren’t going to learn everything you need to know to reach your goal in one sitting. The knowledge you need to learn to will come with each tiny step you take forward. Slowly but surely you will build up your bag of tricks to get where you need to be.

When the going gets tough – keep going. Perseverance is key to getting where you want to go. There will times when they will feel that their efforts are pointless or they aren’t seeing any progress. That’s the exact time to hunker down and keep moving forward.

Just do it! Don’t overplan yourself right out of your dream. Yes, plans are important to have an idea of what you’re doing and where you’re going, but you don’t have to know every step of every path you’re going to take. Planning and then planning some more is a surefire way to kill your dream.

It’s ok to dream the impossible dream. It’s ok to reach for the unreachable star. It will hurt sometimes and it will take time to get there but you can pursue your passion and live your dream.

It’s never too soon to teach your children about the importance of good oral health and get them in to a routine that will carry them throughout their lives. While some children will take to the task at hand easily and without much fuss, everyone learns differently and may take a little extra coaxing. Here are a few tips for you to help your little ones keep their teeth and gums healthy.

Teach your children about their teeth. Explain the different types of teeth, how many they have, where they are located and even what their jobs are. As adults we have 32 teeth – twelve molars (in sets of three and are in the back of the mouth), eight premolars (also known as bicuspids and are used to crush and tear food), four cuspids (next to the bicuspids or premolars and are pointed which make tearing food easy) and eight incisors (located in the front of the mouth and are used to cut food.)

Read books specifically about dental health. A trip to your library or local book store will provide plenty of age-appropriate reading material that talk about good dental health. For younger children, books with more illustrations are a better choice. If you are able to connect to the Internet, the Australian Dental Association’s website offers more information about going to the dentist.

The younger your children are the better when it comes to teaching about good oral health habits. Don’t put it off another minute.

Does your child suffer from sleep problems? If so, according to University of Cologne (Germany) research (originally published in the journal SLEEP), he or she is more likely to have trouble falling asleep than staying asleep. Here are some tips to help your children that may attend child care and help them sleep better from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine:

Follow a consistent bedtime routine. Set aside 10 to 30 minutes to get your child ready to go to sleep.

Establish a relaxing setting at bed time.

Interact with your child at bed time. Don’t let the television, computer or video games take your place.

Keep your children from TV programs, movies and video games which are not appropriate for their age.

Do not let your child fall asleep while being held, rocked, fed a bottle or while nursing.

At bed time, do not allow your child to have foods or drinks which contain caffeine. Try not to give him or her any medicine which has a stimulant at bed time.

One of the most common struggles parents have is dealing with picky eaters. This is one of the reasons we offer all meals at Parkside Early Learning Centre that are healthy, taste great vary from day to day. Does any of this sound familiar to you?

Your toddler takes a few bites of food and announces he’s “done”

You can stock your fridge and shelves full but your little one will only eat the same 5 things over and over.

Your child asks for one thing, you make it, then she asks for something else then decides she wants something completely different altogether.

Coaxing your children to just take “one more bite” is a constant battle in your home

First things first – meal times are supposed to be relaxing and enjoyable so you want to avoid these battles every time you sit down at the table. Toddlers between the ages of 1 and 3 typically have smaller appetites, so if they only eat a little at a time, that’s ok. However, also realize that their appetites can change on a daily basis and even from meal to meal. If they like carrots, don’t be afraid to throw some in at breakfast. Do they prefer eggs? Who says you can’t have eggs for dinner?

Dinner time is typically going to be the meal that your child feels like eating the least. Itâ€™s the end of the day and they are tired and unless they have been doing a physical activity like swimming or playing outside or at daycare, chances are they aren’t going to be as hungry as they are at other times of the day.

If you are dealing with older children who are picky eaters, you may be able to reason more with them and enforce the “one bite rule“ meaning they have to take at least one bite of every food on their plate and if they don’t like it, they don’t have to eat it again.

Have realistic portions: Many parents set unrealistic goals for their children when it comes to mealtime. A good rule of thumb to follow: If your child is under the age of 5-6, use a tablespoon per year of age. If they ask for more when they’ve finished that then you can always give more.

Keep trying to introduce new foods – even if they haven’t liked them before. Tastes change and you never know when you find something new they like.

Avoid too much milk, juice and soda in place of food. Many kids will fill up on sugary drinks and have no room for food.

Remember, pick your battles and don’t make meal time miserable for everyone!

Your child isn’t going to become a great reader over night, but it can happen one book at a time. But what is the best way for you to choose the right book for your child to read?

It may be second nature to feel like you should be picking your children’s books, but the fact remains that letting your child choose their own books is a skill that they should learn at young age. By allowing your child to choose their own books independent of your input, allows your child to learn the different reason we choose a book to read in the first place.

If your child has reached reading age, here are a few helpful tips to help him or her learn to choose books that will make them want to read more:

When your child is ready to start reading, begin instilling the fact that we read for a purpose – whether it’s too learn something or if the purpose is simply for enjoyment.

Have your child browse through the books either at the library or the bookstore. If this seems to be too overwhelming, then have them narrow down their choices by either a type of book (fiction or nonfiction) or by action, funny or other subject.

Say “yes” as often as you can when your child selects a book that he or she is interested in. Rather than saying “no” try saying that a choice is “not so a great selection.

If your child selects a book that is beyond his or her reading ability, solve the problem by reading the book out loud with your child. Let them read as much of the book as possible, you can jump in if there are difficult parts for your child to read.

If your child has really enjoyed a particular book, remind him or her of the author name when they are selecting books the next time.

As a centre we get a little bit of a feel of just how many people are moving to our beautiful town of Gympie! We have met numerous families looking for care at Parkside ELC and usually they come with a range of child-related questions – Where is the best Swim school? What can you do on the weekend? Is there a child-friendly restaurant (other than McDonalds!)?

This is why our Parkside ELC staff have created this must-do list of their family favourites. Here is their top 10 in order of popularity:

The new Aquatic and Recreation Centre -its just down the road from our centre in Tozer Park Road! Indoor and outdoor swimming, a gym and outdoor waterpark awaits you

The Gympie Jungle indoor playground – our centre’s go to place for vacation care and parties, like our graduation party.

The duckponds and playground, officially known as Lake Alford Park. Watch the birds, have a picnic and enjoy the fence playground with your little ones.

A drive to Rainbow Beach. Great for swimming and playing in the sun, climb and slide down Carlo Sandblow or go for a family drive in a 4WD.

Cobb and Co – a camp ground but open to day visitors. The families can choose from activities such as flying fox, farm yard, the creek, train ride, BMX track or fun on the pirate ship playground. There is also some nice walking tracks around. Day visitor fees apply.

Fishing at Tin Can Bay – there are plenty of fishing spots around Gympie but if you leave early enough you might get a glimpse of the dolphins at Tin Can Bay waiting for the many visitors.

Bunnings – you can’t beat the DIY and craft sessions at Bunnings. And did we mention they are FREE!

Skate Zone – fairly new to Gympie but super popular! Fun for the whole family…

Ten Pin Bowling – another family favourite. Go out together for a game of Ten pin bowling or use some of the arcade games in the separate room. They serve food, too!

This is of course not a complete list of things to do but we hope the Parkside staff could be of help with their tried and trusted activities in and around Gympie. For more information check out the Gympie council website. https://www.gympie.qld.gov.au/whats-on

When we hear the words Christmas time many different thoughts come to mind – it will be different for everyone. Every family celebrates or enjoys this time in a unique way. Our culture, believes and own childhood will determine how we appreciate this season.

For some it will be a joyful time when family gets together, we eat too much food and relax over a few days off. Then there are those who dread the time because it reminds them of loved ones passed away or rifts in a family or friendship. Others again would like to enjoy the time more but may need to work or suffer financially, wanting to offer their children a rich Christmas experience but can’t really afford it. Whatever Christmas is to you it is a wonderful time to slow down, reflect and teach our children a few life lessons:

Our Kindergarten teacher, Miss Letitia, has recently helped the children write their Christmas wish lists. Looking at my own children’s list “Santa” could easily go bankrupt! However, Miss Letitia’s class reflected on the difference between what we really want versus what we actually need. The children shared some amazing (and funny) insights! Who would have thought that they know ‘our families NEED vegetables’ as one little boy wrote. 😊 The children were taught that we can’t have everything we want and our basic needs need to be met first before we can splurge on our wants. Miss Letitia used this activity to teach children about sustainability.

Following on from that we can teach our children thankfulness for the things we receive. Children need to learn to be appreciative for what they have or they will grow up taking things and people around them for granted. Thankfulness can be taught by encouraging children to think about people who help them and get them to create a little thank you for them, e.g. a home-made card or small gift. Children could give it to their teachers, the postman, their doctor or the rubbish collectors. Gratitude is a positive attribute in children that can be modelled by us adults and taught in many practical ways, especially around Christmas.

Aside from teaching thankfulness to our children and that we can’t have everything we want we can also teach the joy of giving as part of the Christmas tradition. Children are quick to express what they want but the concept of generosity might come a little harder. When in the supermarketyou’re your little one makes requests maybe buy a few extra treats or necessities and together donate them to a charity helping the homeless or others in need. In the past Parkside ELC together with the families made a collection of food items which got donated to the local Salvation Army Service. At home you could have a sort out of your child’s toys and see if they would like to donate them to a local Op Shop. If your child asks why people live in such dire situations we can say that things might have gone wrong in their lives (e.g. they had a bad accident and couldn’t work anymore) or they may have made choices that weren’t good at some stage and sometimes it is very hard to fix them again. Teaching generosity builds empathy and a caring nature in children. It trains them to be less self-centred and to look out for others. Another idea for slightly older children could be to help out at a soup kitchen. You could make this an experience for the whole family, especially if you can not help financially but have a little time at your hand. This brings us to another type of giving – the giving of time!

Spending quality time with other people is just as precious! Often we travel far over the holiday period to meet people who we have not seen in a long time. Giving up our time to be with others communicates our appreciation and value of others. This year the vacation care children will be making small baked goods for the elderly at a local retirement home and spend time with the people there. They will be singing Christmas songs and play board games with them. We hope the elderly will have a good time with our school-aged children in this pre-Christmas season and be reminded of their own childhood!

Christmas often appears to be about presents and gifts. But maybe time, thankfulness, generosity and the thought of our world’s future are gifts even more important. They cannot be bought but have to be taught. We have an important job to ensure our children have wonderful memories, traditions and values – especially at Christmas Time. The Parkside Team hopes you will be able to take some time out and make them happen together with your children!

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and all the best for 2018 from everyone of the Parkside Team!

Occasionally, we get asked by parents “Do children really need to be exposed to early learning programs before he or she goes to school?” The answer we always give them is a resounding ‘yes’!

Our own two children went to a Kindergarten program. My oldest daughter, now 10 years old, went full time and my younger son, now 6 years old, only went 1 day per week. We certainly noticed the difference in the smoothness of their transition and readiness for school. Although we provided a loving and caring home where early education was valued, we could not create an environment similar to long daycare or school where the social skills are challenged and developed in a unique environment away from us as protective parents. We realised that exposing our own children to such a learning environment benefits them hugely in their transition to school, builds confidence and resilience.

Attending a long daycare service like Parkside Early Learning Centre or a Kindergarten Program exposes children to larger group learning with activities planned specifically for their developmental stage, individual needs or personal interests. All this is done by well qualified staff who build ongoing relationships with the children and after a while know them very well. The difference of early years education to school is that all our experiences at Parkside ELC are play-based in nature. Educators observe the children and use their natural and current interests to further develop their knowledge and development. Aside from these planned and spontaneous activities children can explore their social skills in a larger group of children. This exposure to diversity builds confidence over time and resilience. Such an environment cannot be re-created on the same scale at home. Therefore, children who are not attending a pre-school or Kindergarten Program may lack in the areas of social and emotional skills.

This personal insight is well backed up by recent research:

The website for the Early Learning: Everyone benefits campaign summarises several benefits of early education from an Australian Study done by the Melbourne Institute. Here some examples:

Australian and international research tells us that attending early learning improves children’s educational outcomes at school up to 13 years later.

Children who attend a high-quality early childhood program in the year before school are up to 40 per cent ahead of their peers by the time they reach Year 3 in primary school.

By age five, a child’s vocabulary will predict their educational success and outcomes at age 30.

Another interesting source to gain more research based information is the Life Course Centre. There you can find several in-depth studies about the positive long-term implications of early education and care programs for Australian children.

As parents, we want the best start for our children. This includes the transition to big school!

So… the question is not any more whether we should send our child to long day care or a Kindergarten Program but WHEN! We encourage you to come and see our centre for yourselves. Meet the owners, director and educators together with your child and get a feel for the place. Once you have enrolled we encourage you to prepare your child for the transition from being at home with you to a pre-school program. The Queensland Department of Education provides some helpful tips on how to transition your child successfully on their website:

Some of our parents have asked about the curriculum that we use to teach and educate our children. We’ve collected this information from the department of education that we thought would help in this blog article.

Early Years Learning Framework

Belonging, Being and Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia was endorsed by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) on 2 July 2009. It is the first early learning framework to be nationally endorsed for use by educators in a range of early childhood settings just like Parkside Early Learning Centre.

Here is some information straight from the Department of Education and Training’s website:

What is this new learning framework about?

We have developed the Early Years Learning Framework to ensure your child receives quality education programs in their early childhood setting. This is a vital time for them to learn and develop.

The Framework‘s vision is for all children to experience play-based learning that is engaging and builds success for life.

It is a guide for early childhood educators who work with children from birth to five years. They will use the Framework in partnership with families, children’s first and most influential educators, to develop learning programs responsive to children’s ideas, interests, strengths and abilities, and recognise that children learn through their play.

The Early Years Learning Framework describes childhood as a time of belonging, being and becoming.

Belonging is the basis for living a fulfilling life. Children feel they belong because of the relationships they have with their family, community, culture and place.

Being is about living here and now. Childhood is a special time in life and children need time to just ‘be’—time to play, try new things and have fun.

Becoming is about the learning and development that young children experience. Children start to form their sense of identity from an early age, which shapes the type of adult they will become.

Play is learning

Play is very important for children. Through play babies and young children explore and learn to understand the world around them as they come to communicate, discover, imagine and create.

When children play they are showing what they have learned and what they are trying to understand. This is why play is one of the foundations of the Early Years Learning Framework.

By using this Framework educators will guide your child’s play by carefully designing learning activities and stimulating indoor and outdoor learning environments.

Relationships are key

It is well known that children learn best when they have secure relationships with caring adults. When children from a very early age develop trusting relationships they feel more confident and able to explore and learn.

In early childhood settings, when children feel emotionally secure they learn through play to develop the skills and understandings they need to interact positively with others and gradually learn to take responsibility.

How will it work?

Educators will use this new Framework in a range of early childhood settings, including long day care, preschools and family day care to ensure that your child receives a high quality experience. It has been created and trialled by experienced early childhood educators, academics, parents and carers.

The Framework focuses on your child’s learning. Educators will work with you in order to get to know your child well. They will create a learning program that builds on your child’s interests and abilities, and keep you in touch with your child’s progress.

Through the Framework’s five learning goals educators will assist your child to develop:

a strong sense of their identity

connections with their world

a strong sense of wellbeing

confidence and involvement in their learning; and

effective communication skills.

Watching your child’s progress

Using the Early Years Learning Framework educators will observe your child’s learning so they can build on it and plan the next steps. They will do this by listening, watching and talking to your child.

They will keep in touch with you regularly to discuss your child’s progress. They may use photos or keep a folder of your child’s work to show what your child is learning,, how they are developing and what particular learning interests them.

Before your child starts school educators will prepare information about your child’s learning and development to share with their new teacher. This will help ensure that your child’s new school is well prepared to continue your child’s learning.

Working together

By working together parents and educators can enhance a child’s learning and wellbeing. As the most important person in your child’s life you can make a difference by talking regularly with your child’s early childhood educator and asking about their learning. Information you provide allows educators to link your child’s experiences at home with the time they spend together in the early childhood setting.

Find out more

To find out more or to access translations visit www.deewr.gov.au/earlychildhood or ask your child’s early childhood educator. Produced by the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations for the Council of Australian Governments.

Parkside Facebook Reviews

An approachable and caring centre who have always taken on board suggestions, opinions and welcomed our family into the centre. A wonderful recent outdoor area transformation.
Owners that took the time to get to know us. Staff who arrange some fantastic adventures and activities for my child when I am unable to and I thank them for that.
Every childcare centre has flaws but it takes a good team to keep it going and this place continues to do that.read more

As only a new family to Parkside all ai have to say is wow! Family owned and operated is a huge thing and the owner Mr Andrew is amazing, barely talks to me but he completely focus's on my children, even getting down to their level to talk to them. The other team members are all fantastic, my toddler and 8yo love it there. Cannot fault them :) Highly recommended!read more

The owners Andrew and Carolyn are awesome. They are hard working honest folk who have created an environment where the staff are thriving . As a result the children and families are really well looked after. Could not rate them highly enough!read more

After returning to work fulltime i starting looking at all the daycare centres in gympie. I found it quite daunting to be putting the trust of looking after my son in someone elses hands.
After finding parkside early learning centre with their amazing staff, very accommodating and friendly nature was a wonderful relief.
Now 7 months later my son is growing mentally in leaps and bounds, and it is now a struggle to get him to leave in the afternoons.
Thankyou to all the parkside staff for their amazing contributions to make my son feel safe, and expand his learning capabilities.read more

Last year we were looking around for a new kindy for our son, we visited Parkside and 9 months on my little boy still talks about how great the place is, sadly we didn't put our little guy in at Parkside only because school was starting within a few months, we do however look forward to sending our littlest one to Parkside, when the time comes for him to start. We love seeing the owners of Parkside at community events and it really shows how committed they are to the children of Gympie region, as a mother of 3 and someone who has worked with children for 9 years, I know a quality centre when I see one, it also just has that vibe a parent needs to reassure them when they walk in and look around, all the staff and the owners should be incredibly proud of there hard work, we look forward to being apart of the Parkside community in the future.read more

Parkside is definitely one of Gympie's best child care centres. Andrew has carefully picked his staff and it shows. They are all wonderful. My kids love coming to day care. My daughter's speech has improved since interacting and communicating with other children. They learn new things everyday and love all the different activities. Yogo is one of their favourites! I can't thank the staff enough for being so kind and Caring to my girls.read more

I just wont to say thank you so much for having my girls best center i have been to sad that we have to move but will keep in touch thank u to all the lovely staff thea leia and i will miss u allread more

I love teaching Yoga here at Parkside. The staff are so supportive, caring and interactive. The children are sunny shiny faces that light up your day. Parkside, thank you for asking me to share Yoga with your little ones... <3 What a treat... Paula from free2b Yoga & PTread more

Hope u have a great last day today Logan. Its so unfortunate that u have to leave Parkside. But we have to move. We have been a part of the Parkside family for almost a year now with 2 of my boys going there. I would like to say a big thank u so much to all the stuff at Parkside for everything u have done for my 2 boys. When Jay stated there after the September holidays last year he couldn't talk to well. But after being with u for only a few weeks his speech picked up so much. I didn't think he would be able to start prep because of it. But u guys got him there. And Logan over the year he has picked up so much going to Parkside. He looks forward to seeing the bus pull up for him every week. Its going to be sad to say good by but its something we must do. Thank u again from our family. ���read more

A wonderful centre with lovely educators who are fantastic with the kids. We investigated all the centres in town and this was the only one where my baby daughter relaxed, smiled and interacted with the staff. On picking her up after her first day, I came in to hear her laughing, not to mention the lovely little photo collage. Can't rate this place highly enough!read more

The smiles on the kids faces say it all!
Andrew, Carolin and all of the teaching staff put their heart and soul into this place on a daily basis and it definitely shows. Whilst having healthy meals prepared for the kids definitely takes a weight off my mind.read more

We love this centre. They have kind caring teachers and we love that they teach foreign languages. We also love the way that Mr Andrew and Miss Carolin are excited to be teaching young children, with their own children in mind.read more

When my son 1st started at parkside we both cried, it was our 1st day away from one another!! The Teachers were amazing!! They managed to settle my than two year old down like magic and to my surprise he wanted to keep coming back!! My son has leant so much since signing up at parkside!! His ABC being a proud moment � but... most importantly he has endless fun with friends and staff in a friendly, safe environment.
I absolutely love all the painting, crafts and photos he brings home just for mum and dad, they melt our hearts. The new free healthy breakfast/lunches are great too even for my little fussy eater. Definitely give parkside a go you won't regret it!!read more

I work at Parkside as the Early Childhood Teacher and never been happier..I am passionate about teaching young children but I know Carolin and Andrew the owners are more passionate along with all the staff who share their days with the children in their care.read more